Throttling queue

ABSTRACT

A method of processing work units in a system is achieved using a throttling queue. The throttling queue assigns work units to a predetermined number of processing slots. Each slot processes an assigned work unit, sends the work units to client systems for processing, and upon finishing, works on a subsequent work unit. The predetermined number of slots, in one embodiment, may be scaled as resources are added or removed from the system. In one embodiment, the work units are network data packets.

FIELD

[0001] The described invention relates to the field of processing network data. In particular, the invention relates to the management of processing resources, such as in a networked environment.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Throttling typically refers to controlling the amount of work processed in a system per some time period. For example, if data is being sent over a network, how fast that data is sent is throttled to avoid data loss or to allow other data to flow simultaneously. Throttling traditionally has been implemented by queuing up work units and processing them in the order they are received. This approach, however, doesn't reflect changes in available resources, such as where it is possible to concurrently process data, or reflect changes in priority.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003]FIG. 1 is a block diagram that shows an example of a throttling queue in a system.

[0004]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram that shows an example embodiment of a throttling queue that includes processing slots.

[0005]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram that shows an example embodiment with client stacks being employed within a throttling queue.

[0006]FIG. 4 is a flowchart that shows one embodiment of a technique to add work units or objects to a throttling queue.

[0007]FIG. 5 is a flowchart that shows one embodiment of a technique to add an object or work unit to a throttling queue where that object depends on another object already in the throttling queue.

[0008]FIG. 6 is a flowchart that shows one embodiment of a technique to remove work units or objects from a throttling queue.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] A method of processing work units in a system using a throttling queue is disclosed. A throttling queue is a device that manages assignment of work units to clients, as will be described. The throttling queue may be implemented in hardware or software. In one embodiment, a throttling queue may assign work units or objects to a predetermined number of processing slots. A processing slot processes an assigned work unit in this embodiment, and upon finishing, works on another assigned work unit. The predetermined number of slots, in one embodiment, may be scaled as resources are added or removed from the system.

[0010]FIG. 1 is a block diagram that shows an example of a throttling queue 20 in a system 5. In one embodiment, the throttling queue 20 is implemented in software on a hardware platform. Clients 10-13 may register with the throttling queue. Thereafter, the clients 10-13 send work units to the throttling queue 20. Work units are work requests that are sent to different agents (or clients) to process. In one embodiment, a work unit may comprise a networking data packet. However, the work unit may be any request for processing of data. In one embodiment, the clients 10-13 comprise separate computing platforms that are networked together.

[0011] In one embodiment, a user operating on one of the clients is able to make modifications on the other clients. During this process, a number of work units are generated by the clients and stored in the throttling queue for transmission to the intended agent (or client). The throttling queue, in this embodiment, has a predetermined number of processing slots for processing the generated work units. As the work units are processed, for example, by the work units being sent out to other clients, such as 10-13, slots are freed up. Subsequent work units may now fill the freed up slots.

[0012]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram that shows an example embodiment of a throttling queue that includes processing slots 20 a-20 n. In one embodiment, a first allocation of processing slots 22 illustrates a first client is allotted a certain number of slots as depicted by allocation line 22 a. Line 22 a indicates that a first client is assigned slots 20 a-201. A second client is assigned slots 20 m and 20 n, as depicted by line 22 b. Such an uneven allocation of slots is used when one client is given more priority than another client. In one embodiment, the client with the highest priority is allocated 80% of the slots, and any other clients share the remaining 20% of slots. Of course these allocations are only an example, various other percentages may be employed. Multiple priority levels and other variations may also be employed.

[0013] In a different allocation 24, each of the clients is assigned the same number of slots. For example, allocation lines 24 a-24 d illustrate various clients assigned three corresponding processing slots. Line 24 a corresponds to slots 20 a-20 c, line 24 b corresponds to slots 20 d-f, and so forth.

[0014] In one embodiment, the assignment of processing slots may be based at least in part on threads of a single client. Thus, a multithreading client is able to prioritized certain threads above others.

[0015] In one embodiment, the throttling queue has a stack, i.e., a last-in first-out storage medium, for clients that have registered to use it. If a client sends the throttling queue a higher priority request, then the throttling queue “pushes” the current client request on a stack and then begins processing the new client request.

[0016]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram that shows an example embodiment with client stacks 41 a-41 n being employed within a throttling queue. The client stacks, may have a number of queues 42 a-c, 44 a-b, i.e., storage media that are typically implemented using a first-in first-out protocol, such that the respective first data items stored into the storage media are the respective first items retrieved from the storage media. The queues 42 a-c, 44 a-b have a number of work units represented by objects 45. The top elements of the client stacks form the primary queue 40. The client queues of the primary queue are processed by work units being allocated to slots as described with respect to FIG. 2. As the client queues 42 a, 44 a complete processing in the primary queue 40, other client queues 42 b-c, 44 b are popped off the stack to be processed.

[0017] For example, client stack 41 a includes client queues 42 a-c. In one embodiment, each of the client queues 42 a-c has a priority associated with it. The one with the highest priority is the one that is processed first. After client queue 42 a is processed, client queue 42 b is processed. Subsequently, client queue 42 c is processed. At the same time a separate client stack 41 n is being processed, and after its client queue 44 a finishes processing, then client queue 44 b enters the primary queue and its work units are allocated to the processing slots.

[0018] In one embodiment, some work units may have a dependency on other work units deeper in the client stack. When this occurs, the work units deeper in the client stack are brought to the top of the stack so they can be processed, as will be explained with respect to FIG. 5.

[0019]FIG. 4 is a flowchart that shows one embodiment of a technique to add work units or objects to a throttling queue. The flow starts at block 100, at which, a new object (representing a work unit) is created that needs processing. Process flow continues at block 102, at which a determination is made whether this object has a first priority. In one embodiment, the client that created the new object dictates whether the new object should have a higher priority than other objects. If the object does not have a first priority, then process flow continues at block 104. If there are empty slots, then process flow continues at block 106 at which the object is assigned to the appropriate target client(s) for processing.

[0020] At block 102, if the new object has first priority, then process flow continues at block 108. From block 108, if there are empty slots, then the object is processed and assigned to the appropriate target client(s) for processing at block 106. From block 108, if there are no empty slots, then process flow continues at block 110, at which a change in priority is marked by creating a new primary queue and pushing the current primary queue onto the client stack. From block 110, process flow continues at block 112 at which the new object (representing a work unit) is added to the client's primary queue.

[0021] At block 104, if there are no empty slots, then process flow continues at block 112, at which the new object (representing a work unit) is added to the client's primary queue.

[0022]FIG. 5 is a flowchart that shows one embodiment of a technique to add an object or work unit to a throttling queue where that object that depends on another object already in the throttling queue. In one embodiment, block 112 of FIG. 4 comprises FIG. 5.

[0023] The flowchart starts at block 150 at which a determination is made whether the current object to be added to the throttling queue depends on other objects already in the throttling queue. If there is a potential dependency, then the flow proceeds at block 152, at which the client queues are searched for potential dependent objects. Any dependent objects found are elevated to high priority (block 154).

[0024] In one embodiment, single objects from the client queue are elevated in priority. In another embodiment, an entire client queue may be raised in priority based on a dependent object within the client queue.

[0025] As an example, a client may send work units to multiple computing platforms as a result of interactions with a first web page. When the client switches to a second web page, this second web page may be set up to modify a single target computing platform. In such a case, the client signals the throttling queue to re-prioritize work units already in the client stacks directed to the target computing platform.

[0026]FIG. 6 is a flowchart that shows one embodiment of a technique to remove objects or work units from a throttling queue. The process flow starts at block 200, at which any of the client objects finishes processing. The process flow continues at block 202, at which a determination is made whether there are any objects in any primary queues. If there are objects in any of the primary queues, then process flow continues at block 204, at which a next object is processed. In one embodiment, either a fair distribution method or a prioritized distribution method is employed, as was illustrated with respect to FIG. 2.

[0027] If, at block 202, there are no objects in any of the primary queues, then process flow continues at block 210, at which the throttling queue waits for a new object to be added.

[0028] The above throttling queue may be employed in a variety of different systems. In one embodiment, multiple clients are coupled together via a network, and the clients are able to modify other clients on the network. In one embodiment, a client may generate thousands of messages, e.g., packet data, to send out to the other computing platforms on the network. However due to limited bandwidth of the network, it may take a while to communicate all the messages (work units) to the other clients. The method described herein allows the client to work on subsequently received tasks by prioritizing the newer tasks with higher priority. The older tasks either continue to operate with a lower priority by being allocated to fewer slots or the older tasks may wait on a client stack until the current tasks are completed. The various implementations may be based on different priority levels of the system.

[0029] In one embodiment, for example, the throttling queue may regulate processing requests for a browser. For example, if a client using a browser is receiving data from a first web page, and the client changes to a second web page, the client will generate new work units based on receiving data from the second web page. Assume the work units associated with the second web page have a higher priority. In this embodiment, these will be processed first. The work units associated with the first web page are then placed in a client stack of the throttling queue and will either continue processing in the background (e.g., at a lower priority) or wait on the client stack until the work units associated with the second web page complete.

[0030] Thus, a method of processing work units in a system using a throttling queue is disclosed. However, the specific embodiments and methods described herein are merely illustrative. Numerous modifications in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed below. The invention is limited only by the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of processing work units from client systems comprising: allocating a plurality of processing slots based on respective priorities of the respective client systems; assigning work units to the plurality of processing slots; and sending the work units to the client systems for processing.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a high priority work unit from a first client; pushing current work units of the first client onto a client stack; and processing the high priority work unit by assigning the high priority work unit to the plurality of processing slots.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein allocating comprises: allocating a predetermined number of processing slots to process high priority work units.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the predetermined number of processing slots approximately corresponds to a predetermined portion of the plurality of processing slots, and the plurality of processing slots varies based at least in part on availability of resources.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the work units comprise network data packets.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: re-prioritizing a first work unit in a client stack based at least in part on a second work unit being at least partially dependent upon the first work unit.
 7. A method of accessing web page data comprising: initiating an access to a first web page; receiving a request for an access to a second web page; placing the access to the first web page in a queue for later or lower priority processing; and initiating the access to the second web page.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: automatically re-initiating the access to the first web page after the access to the second web page is finished.
 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: automatically re-initiating the access to the first web page when processing resources become available.
 10. The method of claim 7, further comprising: receiving a request for an access to a third web page; placing the access to the second web page in the queue for later or lower priority processing.
 11. A method of processing multiple threads comprising: allocating a plurality of processing slots based on a priority of the multiple threads; assigning the multiple threads to the plurality of processing slots; sending the multiple threads out for processing; and filling the plurality of processing slots with new threads.
 12. The method of claim 11 further comprising: receiving a first thread having a high priority; pushing an older thread on a stack; and allocating the first thread to the plurality of processing slots.
 13. The method of claim 12 further comprising: popping the older thread from the stack when processing resources become available.
 14. An article comprising: a storage medium which stores instructions, the instructions, when executed, causing systems to: allocate a plurality of processing slots based on a priority of client systems; assign work units to the plurality of processing slots; and send the work units to the client systems for processing.
 15. The article of claim 14, wherein the storage medium further comprises instructions, the instructions, when executed, cause systems to: receive a high priority work unit from a first client; push current work units of the first client onto a client stack; and process the high priority work unit by assigning the high priority work unit to the plurality of processing slots.
 16. The article of claim 14, wherein the storage medium further comprises instructions, the instructions, when executed, cause systems to: re-prioritize a first work unit in a client stack at least partially based on a second work unit being at least partially dependent upon the first work unit. 